With all the blather about banning or restricting the construction of mosques in the United States because of Islam's alleged connections to terrorism, now is a good time to examine exactly what the religion is and what its central tenets are.

Several dozen Cincinnati residents will participate in Saturday's “Reclaim the Dream” rally in Washington, D.C.

The rally was organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network after it was announced that conservative TV talk show host and self-described “rodeo clown” Glenn Beck was holding a demonstration on the mall in Washington, D.C., on the 47thanniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King's historic “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

A weekend-long Vigil for Native Life kicks off tonight downtown with a march starting at City Hall at 7 p.m. and proceeding to the William Henry Harrison monument in Piatt Park at Elm Street and Garfield Place. Participants will also visit the Hamilton County Courthouse before finishing at burial mound sites near Fountain Square.

Thursday will mark the 64th anniversary since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, obliterating most of the Japanese city and directly killing more than 80,000 people. Within a few months, another 50,000 would die from injuries or radiation poisoning.